


A forbidden love

by WhovianDream



Category: Original Story, Romeo And Juliet - Shakespeare
Genre: F/F, High School, M/M, Real world, Romance, Tumblr, fandom versus hipster, tumblr wars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-09
Updated: 2014-03-09
Packaged: 2018-01-15 04:34:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1291516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhovianDream/pseuds/WhovianDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an original story, very loosely based on a cross between Romeo and Juliet and the music video for 'Check Yes Juliet' by We the Kings.<br/>The idea was given to me by the lovely sarkynerd.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A forbidden love

**Author's Note:**

> This fic has not been beta'd or checked in any way, so let me know if you spot any errors.  
> This is a rather different theme to my general writing, so sorry for any issues.  
> Also, I got major writer's block in the middle, so apologies if that's obvious!
> 
> Please note: I have nothing against hipsters at all, but the majority of this story is written from the perspective of someone who does. Her opinions, and those of other characters, are not my own

Ugh. It should be illegal to have maths first thing on a Monday. It just set the whole week up for failure.  


Romi was not in a good mood. She dragged her feet in resignation as she headed slowly towards class. The half term holiday had gone past far too quickly. Somehow she had managed to spend the entirety of it doing nothing but blogging. She was really going to have her work cut out if she didn't want to get into trouble for missing important work deadlines.  


She sighed. How was it possible that a few stupid TV shows could rule her life so much? Surely there are only so many times you can reblog the same photos of a couple of admittedly very handsome actors?  


She didn't know any more. Her blog had been both the best thing and the worst thing to happen to her.  


The other students jostled her as she tried to walk through the crowded corridors towards her classroom. She hitched her rucksack further up onto her shoulder when a particularly hard knock caused it to slip. She knew they didn't do it deliberately, but it still irked her. Although if she weren't so different, people might have given her more respect. More like the pretty hipster girls perhaps. Tugging angrily on a lock of her short dark hair, she glared at group of girls huddled in a corner, busy instagramming their coffee cups.  


No. She liked who she was, dark make up and weird clothes included. So what if she liked different things to most people, or if she became far too passionate about imaginary worlds. It was definitely better than being a silly clone of a hipster girl.  


Reaching the staircase, she raised her right foot to climb the first step, but just at that moment, one of the girls looked up and caught her eye.  


Her foot missed the step and she stumbled.  


Romi quickly looked away, cheeks flushing, but not before she saw a small smile form on the lips of the girl.  


Great. Now they were laughing at her too.  


Determinedly looking at her feet, she stomped up the stairs, heart thudding in her chest.

 

The classroom was empty; rows of silent desks sheltering chairs which marched two by two towards a blank whiteboard. Romi quickly claimed a seat at the back and slumped down. Pulling out her phone, she flicked through a few blog posts as she waited for the rest of the class to arrive.  


She wasn't usually early, but her dad had insisted on dropping her off this morning. Another embarrassment to add to the rapidly growing list.  


She scowled as the group of girls entered the classroom, giggling and joking with each other. The girl from earlier was with them and Romi realised with a jolt that she recognised her, now that her observation skills weren't clouded by embarrassment. Her name was Juliet, if she remembered correctly. She was wearing a baggy cream jumper and maroon tights underneath her uniform skirt, blatantly flaunting the uniform code. It was a look which Romi normally hated, flying in the face of her own punk rock style. But somehow she found herself admiring how it complimented the girl's mousy hair and oval face. She felt a little colour creeping into her cheeks.  


Resolutely fixing her gaze on her phone screen, she pointedly ignored the girls.

Some minutes later, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she looked up and recognised the cheeky, slightly lopsided grin of her best friend, Mark.  


“You look like the BBC just cancelled Sherlock,” he chuckled. “What's up?”  


Romi glared at him.  


“Mondays and maths. How can you be so happy?”  


“Because I get to see your lovely face?”  


Romi snorted and rolled her eyes. Mark simply grinned before lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper.  


“Actually, Tyler's joining this class.” Romi groaned.  


“Ugh. You and your boy crushes. Does this mean you're going to be ditching me again?”  


“Wouldn't want to pass up on such a golden opportunity.” Mark chuckled cheekily and winked at Romi before casually sauntering over to where a group of boys were spilling into the classroom, followed closely by the class teacher.  


Romi stashed her phone in her bag and started rummaging for books and pens.  


A couple of minutes later, the bell rang and everyone mooched towards finding a place to sit for that half term. The group of boys Mark had latched onto sat in the far corner with the hipster girls in front of them. Tyler ended up sitting directly behind the girls and Juliet moved to join him so that she could talk to the two girls in front. However Mark noticed his chance and quickly plonked himself onto the seat before Juliet got there, turning around and grinning cheekily up at her. Romi had to hide a smirk. She felt a little sorry for the girl as she looked around for another place to sit, finding all of the ones near her friends to be taken. The she remembered the way the girl had smirked at her in the hall and all feelings of sympathy quickly evaporated. Served her right.  


She focussed her attention on the class teacher and began writing the date in her maths book, leaving the girl to her seat hunting.  


She was startled when a shadow crossed her page. Looking up she realised the girl was standing in front of her desk, an unsure smile curving the corners of her mouth.  


“Um. Do you mind? Everywhere else is taken,” she murmured shyly, not meeting Romi's eye.  


Romi desperately looked around the classroom for another spare seat, but the girl had been speaking the truth. Dejectedly, she waved her hand vaguely towards the girl in a motion that was both a surrender and an instant dismissal. Great, this day just got better and better.  


She ignored the slight flutter in her chest as the girl sat down and started to arrange her things on her desk, the neat patterns providing a stark contrast to the messy sprawl of her new desk partner. Glancing at the teacher, she removed her jumper and folded it neatly in her bag.  


Once she was settled, the girl turned to her and smiled.  


“Hi, I'm Juliet.”  


“I know,” muttered Romi. The smile faltered on Juliet's lips. Romi felt a strange compelling desire to put it back.  


“Erm, I mean. I'm Romi.” She held out her hand. Juliet hesitated before gently shaking it, an odd expression flickering across her face.  


Romi winced internally and cursed herself. A handshake? What was she, some sort of 18th century gentleman? Luckily the teacher chose that moment to start the lesson, so Romi could hide the flush further darkening her cheeks.

 

Ten minutes later, when they were quietly working through some examples in their books, Romi felt a tap on her arm.  


“I saw you in the corridor earlier. Do you always walk around with such a scowl on your face?” Romi recognised the tone as cautiously playful, but her memory of the event caused her to see a vicious undertone in the innocent comment.  


“Only when I'm being smirked at,” she muttered.  


“Smirked at?” Juliet frowned, the expression clouding her bright features. Romi didn't answer. She had no intention of discussing it and simply wanted the girl to stop bothering her. She pretended to be engrossed in one of the maths problems.  


Juliet was silent for a few moments before a small 'oh' crossed her lips. Romi had to repress a shiver as the sound sent tingles down her spine.  


“You thought I was mocking you when you tripped,” Juliet said quietly. Romi stayed silent.  


“I wasn't, you know. I was just smiling at you. I saw you scowling and thought a friendly smile might cheer you up. Before you tripped,” she added.  


Romi felt a warm feeling in her chest. It was such a nice gesture and she couldn't help but feel a small degree of warmth towards the girl.  


So of course, she overcompensated.  


“Well I don't need anyone to cheer me up. Don't bother in future.” She huffed and turned away as far as the small desk would let her.  


She heard Juliet pause then turn back to her work. She cringed inside.  


Neither girl said anything for the rest of the lesson.

 

As Wednesday and her next maths lesson drew closer, Romi found herself thinking about Juliet again. There was something about the girl which intrigued her. If it weren't for the fact that Juliet was a hipster girl, they could perhaps have become good friends. But her type and hipster girls didn't mix. It just wasn't an option.  


Nevertheless, she didn't want to simply dismiss the girl because of her dubious style decisions. She'd wait and see what happened.

It was a small school, so Romi found that she saw the girl more often than she'd expected. Each time they passed in the corridors, Juliet smiled at her. A small hesitant smile, but a smile nonetheless. The third time it happened, Romi smiled back. Juliet's smile immediately widened and Romi felt her heatbeat surge. Realising she was blushing, she nodded quickly and hurried down the corridor.  


But after that, she always returned Juliet's smile.

 

Finally, Wednesday rolled around. Romi dressed with particular care in the morning, stubbornly telling herself it was nothing to do with her maths lesson in the afternoon.  


The day seemed a particularly boring one; cold, grey and cloudy with lessons dragging on into eternity.  


At lunch Romi sat with Mark and a couple of their other friends. She was idly twirling her fork in her cold pasta when she noticed the hipster girls walk into the bustling hall. She immediately sat up straighter and pretended to be involved in the conversation, laughing animatedly when it seemed appropriate. Mark gave her a curious look, but said nothing.  


Romi's eyes were drawn to Juliet as she collected her food at the crowded counter, paying for it with a flick of her student card. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked around the room for her friends, eventually spying them sitting a couple of tables over from where Romi sat. She started to pick her way across the canteen, carefully avoiding bits of dropped food.  


Romi was jolted out of her reverie by Mark punching her lightly on the arm.  


“What's got into you today?” he asked. “You're, well...quiet?” Romi punched him back, slightly harder.  


“Nothing, just thinking.” She was still watching as Juliet reached the girls' table and sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs. Mark followed her gaze.  


“Ugh, hipsters,” he practically sneered the word. “They're so full of themselves.” Romi made a non committal noise in the back of her throat. Any other day, she would have been enthusiastically joining in with the hipster bashing, but not now. She was beginning to realise she might have judged too quickly. But she couldn't let the others hear that.  


Instead she stayed silent as she listened to Mark rant.  


“Seriously, how many instagrammed pictures of food does the world need?” As if to prove his point, one of the girls got out her phone and started snapping pictures of the soggy school mush. Mark laughed so hard he choked on his own forkful of dubious grey mash. A few people in the cafeteria looked around at him, including Juliet. Romi met her gaze and answered her questioning look with a slight shake of her head. Juliet shrugged before flashing her a quick smile and returning to her meal.  


Romi's smile stayed with her for the rest of lunch.

 

She was late. How could she be late? All she'd done was visit her locker and pop to the toilets to freshen up. So how could she now be late?  


The corridors were empty as she half walked, half jogged towards the maths classroom. She hadn't even heard the bell go. Making a mental note to ease up on the daydreaming and focus instead on real life, she stopped outside the classroom door.  


Peering in through the window, she saw everyone with their heads down, writing studiously. No way to sneak in then. She tried to catch Mark's attention, but he was busy writing, body turned slightly towards Tyler so that he could shoot him a quick glance every so often. Tyler didn't seem to notice, but this did nothing to dishearten Mark. He loved a challenge.  


Romi sighed as she realised she would just have to get another late mark. She mentally counted up how many she had so far. This would be her fifth. Great, that would mean detention tonight.  


She was just about to push open the door and accept her fate when she felt someone looking at her. Her eyes found Juliet's and without thinking, Romi sent a silent plea of help to the girl. Juliet's brow furrowed in thought. Her eyes flicked to where the teacher was sitting, hidden from Romi's view.  


A few seconds later, Romi watched as an idea bloomed across Juliet's pretty features, lighting them up with the glow of sudden inspiration. It took her a moment to realise that Juliet was gesturing at her, turning the movement fluently to tucking her hair behind her ear as, presumably, the teacher looked up.  


Romi took the gesture to mean hide, so she quickly ducked into an empty classroom. Seconds later, the teacher strode out of the room and a little way down the hall. While she was looking intently at one of the noticeboards, Romi dashed across the hallway and into the classroom. She quickly sat down in her seat, got out her books and tried to look as if she had been there all along. Shortly afterwards, the teacher returned. She looked a little puzzled when she saw Romi, but she didn't say anything.  


Romi let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.  


“Thanks,” she whispered quietly to Juliet.  


“No problem,” came the reply, along with a quick smile.  


“I couldn't afford to get another late mark, I already have four. How did you get her to leave anyway?” Juliet giggled quietly.  


“I told her I wanted to sign up for the club she's starting at lunch, but said I kept forgetting to write my name down. When I asked to pop out now, she said she'd do it for me as she wanted to look at the sheet anyway. I think she's just desperate for any interest really, it's not proving to be a popular club.”  


“That was a bit of a gamble though, what if she'd said no?”  


“I'd have thought up a different way to get you in. Paper fight perhaps.” She smirked and Romi had to stifle a giggle at the thought of perfect little Juliet starting a paper fight. She wasn't even sure they happened in real schools.  


“You're awesome,” she said, the words spilling from her lips before she realised she was saying them out loud. She cringed. There was something about this girl which made her say the stupidest things. Timidly, she glanced over at Juliet and was shocked to see a deep blush flooding the girl's cheeks. She lowered her gaze and smiled softly to herself.  


Both girls worked in companionable silence for the next few minutes.  


After a bit, Juliet started to look as if she wanted to say something, mouth opening endearingly before she stopped herself at the last minute. Romi looked at her curiously, unsure what to do.  


Eventually, Juliet took a deep breath and said quietly “So. As I got you out of detention, do you uh. Do you want to maybe walk home with me? I think we live nearby” she added quickly.  


Romi was startled. Of all the things she had expected Juliet to say, that was right at the bottom of the list.  


“Um. I normally walk back with Mark.”  


“Oh. Ok. That's fine.” Juliet looked even more embarrassed, fidgeting nervously with her pen and blushing furiously.  


Romi quickly continued “But...yes, sure.”  


Juliet looked up and Romi smiled at her.  


“He'll probably still be chasing after Tyler,” she said, chuckling.  


Juliet's eyes widened. “Tyler?? You mean they're..”  


“Yup, at least Mark is. I dunno about Tyler. Guess we'll have to wait and see.”  


They burst into fits of hurriedly suppressed giggles.  


Juliet turned serious.  


“I always though you two were a couple.”  


“Everybody does,” admitted Romi, “we're very close.”  


“But you're not....” The question was burning in Juliet's eyes.  


“No. I could never stand dating him, he's repulsive!” Juliet pretended to look scandalised.  


“You can't say that, he's your friend!”  


Romi nudged her playfully.  


“Yup and I love him. But he's still repulsive.” She winked and both girls glanced over to where Mark was sitting. Romi noticed with interest that Tyler's body was now turned towards Mark's and that a small smile was playing across both boys' features. As they watched, Mark's hand crept out slowly to nudge against Tyler's thigh under the table. Tyler didn't move but his smile increased. The girls looked at each other, incredulous.  


“Well, I guess that answers our question!” exclaimed Juliet.

The bell rang.

“Gosh that lesson went quickly,” said Romi, surprised.  


“Maybe because you weren't here for half of it,” teased Juliet with a cheeky glint in her eyes.  


“Oi! I was only five minutes late!” Romi protested.  


Juliet laughed.  


“You're so easy to wind up.”  


The girls collected their belongings, stuffing them haphazardly into their bags before making their way out of the classroom.  


“So see you at home time then?” asked Romi, a little shyly.  


“Yes, meet by the gates?” replied Juliet, signalling to her friends that she'd be there in a second.  


“Ok, see you there.” Romi smiled at her before turning and trudging off to her next lesson. For the first time, she didn't notice the crowds in the hallway, too caught up in her thoughts to care about the stray limbs which dug into her sides. The hallway seemed to get colder the further she walked. Someone must have left a window open. She pulled her jacket closer around her and picked at the chipped nail polish on her nails as she walked, deep in thought.

By the time she reached her next class, she had decided the hipster girls weren't so bad after all and made a resolution to not judge people too quickly in the future. After all, who knew how many other Juliets were waiting out there hidden under a disguise of questionable style choices.

 

Romi's class was let out early, so she ended up reaching the school gates first. Leaning back against the cold metal, she waited for Juliet. She'd been right about Mark wanting to walk with Tyler – he hadn't even stopped to say goodbye, simply running off with a vague wave behind him. Romi didn't mind. It meant she didn't have to explain how she was walking home. She wasn't quite sure what was going on with Juliet so she didn't want to discuss it just yet, and Mark would have wanted a play by play account of every interaction they'd ever had. Plus, he'd wind her up too much and start pushing her to make a move. Romi had fancied girls in the past, but she hadn't told anyone apart from Mark. Coming out to Juliet would only lead to awkwardness, and as she was pretty sure Juliet was straight, it would also be somewhat pointless.  


Romi was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice Juliet approaching until a hand passed in front of her eyes.  


“Earth to Romi,” Juliet teased, “Oh there you are. Where do you go when you look like that?”  


Romi nudged her playfully in response. She looked a little bashful, her most recent thoughts running steadily trough her mind. She was glad Juliet couldn't hear them.  


"Er I was just thinking.” She shrugged. “I spend a lot of time in my head.”  


“It must be an interesting place then,” smiled Juliet as they started to walk down the busy street.  


“I, er.. I guess. Sometimes it's just easier to cope with than real life.” She smiled, embarrassed “It's that or spend my whole life on the internet.”  


“The internet is a terrifying place.”  


“You don't like the internet?” Romi was almost incredulous. She couldn't imagine anyone disliking the internet, at least not anyone young.  


“Oh no, quite the contrary. I find it both a blessing and a curse. I spend far too much time on it.” She paused, considering something, before slowly saying. “ I like your shoelaces?”  


Romi stared at her. The sentence seemed so odd, but somehow familiar. As she glanced down at her shoes, she remembered where she'd heard, or rather seen it before.  


“You have a Tumblr?”  


Juliet sighed, exaggeratedly.  


“You're supposed to say 'Thanks, I stole them from the president,'” she scolded. “But yes, I do have a Tumblr. However, I suspect we belong to different sides.”  


Romi carefully considered this new information. Whatever side they were from, Tumblr people were generally good friends to have.  


And often more open minded.  


A hopeful flutter started in Romi's chest.  


“I'm from the fandom side, superwholock mostly.” Juliet nodded.  


“I thought so. So we're technically enemies, I'm from the so called 'hipster' side.” She laughed, and after a beat, Romi joined in.  


“Then I shall have to cease all communication with you immediately” Romi joked.  


“Yes, wouldn't want to be cast out for conspiring with the enemy!”  


They both collapsed into hysterical giggles, pausing on the pavement to catch their breath. Neither girl knew why they were laughing – it wasn't that funny – which only made them laugh even harder at the absurdness of it all. Juliet had just about regained control when she caught Romi's eye and collapsed again.  


“This...is...silly” she panted between giggles.  


“Undoubtedly,” agreed Romi, grinning widely. It really was silly, but neither girl wanted to stop.

 

Eventually their giggles dissipated and they both managed to suck in deep breaths and become calm.  


“We'd best get home,” Romi said, trying to hide her reluctance to end the moment.  


“Yes, I'm starving. My house is on the next street.” They started walking again, steps slower than before as they both tried to prolong the journey.  


“I'm the street after that, on the corner of the park.”  


“We actually live quite close then,” Juliet observed.  


“Yup, you should come over sometime. You know, for homework or something. Could be useful.” Romi cringed at her lack of articulation, but Juliet didn't seem to notice.  


“Yeah, that would be great. Anyway, this is me.” She gestured up at the house they had stopped by. It was a big white detached house with a wide lawn. The flower beds were trimmed immaculately with not a weed in sight. Romi thought of her scrabby old house and immediately became embarrassed.  


“This is..lovely,” she said. “You're really lucky.” Juliet shrugged.  


“It may look nice, but it's not really any different from any other house. And I stopped noticing the neatness years ago. It's just home.”  


“I guess...” Romi replied, a little reassured. “Still, I'd love to live in a house like this. Anyway, see you tomorrow?”  


“Yup, more delightful maths,” Juliet giggled. “Try and turn up on time, hey? Not sure if I can pull off another stunt like today!”  


Romi laughed. “Yeah, thanks again for that, I owe you one.” A thought occurred to her. “Will you actually have to go to that lunchtime club you signed up for?”  


“I might go along if I feel like it, for the first one at least. But no, I'll just tell her I have another club which clashes.” She shrugged. “It's no big deal.”  


“Well, if you do decide to go, I could always come along with you? As it was me that got you into it in the first place.” Romi quickly silenced the voice in her head which suggested she was just looking for excuses to spend more time with Juliet.  


“Sure. If you're there, it might actually be fun.” Juliet grinned at the possibilities flooding her mind. “Right, I really must be off, so see you tomorrow.”  


She waved as she pushed through the dainty gate and ran up the slightly winding path to her front door. Romi waved happily back, then turned and started the short walk on to her house, already disappearing into the depths of her mind.

 

That night, Romi curled up on her bed and carefully combed through her Tumblr, removing anything embarrassing and making sure everything was perfect.  


The next street over, Juliet was similarly busy, a small smile curving her lips.

 

“Hey, mind if I sit here?” Romi looked up to see Juliet standing over her with a tray of food. She had been sitting alone in the bustling cafeteria, eyes fixed on her phone, so she hadn't noticed the other girl approaching.  


“Yeah, sure,” she smiled. “It would be nice to have some company.”  


Juliet sat down, using a napkin to carefully wipe some unknown stickiness off the table.  


“Where are your friends?” she asked curiously.  


“They have basketball on Thursdays, so I usually come here early then disappear to the library. It's nice and quiet there, so I can plug in some music and just relax into my thoughts. I sort of look forward to it actually” she admitted shyly. “Why are you here so early?”  


“I have that club today, you know the one I signed up for to save your sorry behind,” she teased.  


“I didn't realise that was today?”  


“Yeah, unfortunately.” Juliet didn't ask whether Romi would be joining her as she'd offered, but the question was there in her eyes. Romi thought about the quiet lunchtime she had planned. The lunchtime she looked forward to all week. On her own, peace and quiet.  


“I'll come with you,” she said. A smile of relief washed over Juliet's face. All of Romi's doubts vanished.

 

“That...was...terrible!” the girls giggled hysterically as they tumbled out of the classroom and meandered their way towards maths.  


“I can't believe you talked me into going with you!”  


“You offered!”  


“It was so--” Romi was cut off by a sneering voice behind them. Their smiles vanished.  


“So this is where you've been going off to” They turned around to see one of Juliet's friends standing with her hands on her hips. “I thought more of you, Juliet. This girl is clearly not someone we should be associating with. Just look at her. She's one of them.”  


“Bry, look. She's nice actually--”  


“Really, Juliet. She's clearly a punky fangirl type.” She practically spat the words, as if they tasted vile in her mouth. “Her type look down on us. She's probably just using you for something.”  


“I'm not-- I would never--” Romi's words became tangled in her hurry to deny the girl's outlandish claims.  


“Look--” Juliet started, but Bry cut her off. Grabbing her arm, she started to dra her towards the maths classroom.  


“I think it's better if you sit with us in maths.” She didn't even glance at Romi as she marched her friend towards the classroom. Juliet looked apologetically over her shoulder as she was pulled away. 

Maths was horrible. True to her word, Bry had made Juliet sit with her group of hipster girls. She'd pushed Tyler into giving up his seat so that Juliet could sit where Bry could keep an eye on her. Mark glared at the back of Bry's head as Tyler reluctantly moved to sit in the only other available seat, next to Romi.  


Romi couldn't even bring herself to make polite small talk with Tyler. She knew that she'd later regret missing the opportunity to divine information about the budding perhaps-more-than-friendship between him and Mark. But at that moment she just didn't care.  


Both girls worked silently for the whole maths lesson.

 

As Romi slowly packed up her things at the end of the lesson, she felt someone grab her arm. Looking down, she recognise Juliet's delicate fingers clasped around her wrist. Without a word, the other girl grabbed a pen from the desk and scribbled something on Romi's arm, just above the wrist. Then, dropping her arm, she flashed Romi a small smile and hurried off after her friends.  


Romi gazed after the disappearing figure with a small smile on her lips. When she looked down at her arm, she saw that Juliet had written her Tumblr url in neat curly handwriting.  


Her smile widened.

 

That evening, Romi logged onto Tumblr and carefully typed in the url Juliet had given her. As the page loaded, she thought about the events of the day. It seemed that the fandom dislike of the hipster blogs wasn't one sided. There was a mutual animosity between the two sides.  


She realised it didn't bother her. She liked Juliet and nothing was going to stop them being friends, as far as she was concerned.  


She hoped Juliet felt the same way.

Curiously, she looked down at the page on her laptop screen.  


It was beautiful, no other word could describe it.  


She scrolled down and read through a few of the uplifting comments photoshopped onto breathtaking pictures of scenery. It was a very positive blog. She paused on a few posts about being lost in thought and the beauty of dreaming. Looking at the date they were posted, she realised that Juliet had reblogged them just after their talk yesterday. A warm feeling started in her chest, blooming out until Romi felt filled with happiness.  


Suddenly music started playing, making Romi jump slightly. She quickly turned the volume down, but let the music keep playing. She laughed as she realised that the song was. 'Check Yes Juliet' by We the Kings. Trust Juliet. It was a perfect song.  


She refreshed the page to see if Juliet was online. Just one more post appeared. A photo of two girls running hand in hand through a meadow. As Romi read the caption, a small shiver ran through her.  


_“Let's be weird together and ignore the world”_  


She looked at the notes and realised that Juliet had posted this herself. She had made it therefore....for her?  


Laughter bubbled up in her chest and she found herself grinning like an idiot. Even if it wasn't meant romantically, it was still a lovely gesture and Romi found her affection for Juliet growing even more. Navigating back to her dashboard, she clicked on the fanmail button and began typing out a message to Juliet.  


After several complete redrafts, she took a deep breath and clicked send.

**I like your blog, especially the latest post :) It's perfect.  
Sorry about what happened earlier, I still want to be friends if you do? I hope you do, I've really enjoyed the last week :)  
\- Let's be weird together.**

As soon as the message had vanished, the doubts began. Perhaps she had been too forward? Maybe the picture hadn't been meant for her? What if Juliet looked at her blog and no longer wanted to be her friend? She pushed the thoughts away. Best just to wait for Juliet's reply.  


She refreshed the page.  


She reblogged a few fandom photos.  


She checked her messages.  


She browsed a few blogs.  


She checked her email.  


She went back and followed Juliet's blog.  


She refreshed her dashboard.  


She checked her activity.  


She read a meta post.  


She checked her messages again.  


She listened to 'Check Yes Juliet' again.  


A little red icon appeared.  


Romi's heart fluttered in her chest.  


With a shaking hand, she clicked on the precious icon.

**_Hey. Of course I want to be friends, just forget about Bry. I've enjoyed the last week as well. You are much more fun than the other girls.  
\- Ignore the world._ **

Romi didn't think it was possible for her to be happier than she was as she read that last line. The post had been for her. Juliet had spent time making a post just for her.  


She quickly typed a reply.

**Thanks :) Then we'll be friends and they won't be able to stop us!  
I was wondering if maybe you wanted to do something tomorrow evening? There's a party down the road, I thought we could go?**

This time, Juliet replied very quickly.

**_I'd love to, but I'm afraid my parents are really strict. They'll never let me out that late :(_ **

Romi suppressed the disappointment at Juliet's reply. She hadn't really thought that Juliet would want to go anyway, but she thought she'd give it a try.

**That's a shame, but ok. Maybe we can do something else over the weekend?**

**_Yes, I'd like that. Perhaps you could show me some of this Sherlock which is all over your blog?_ **

**Oh god, don't look through my blog, it's embarrassing! Watching Sherlock is a good idea though :) I think you'll like it.**

**_I like your blog. Though I'm not sure I get many of the jokes, not being in the fandoms. But it's nice. And I have seen Frozen, so I'm going to pinch all of those posts from you._ **

Romi glanced at her activity and noticed an increase in notes and a new follower. She ignored a slight feeling of apprehension. She hadn't let anyone see her blog before – it was rather nerve racking. But she wanted Juliet to see it, she trusted her.

**Frozen is so good! And the music is great too. Such a great film :)**

They talked about Frozen and Sherlock and many other things late into the night. Talking lots but saying nothing, the one thing they really wanted to discuss pushed aside and edged around. Eventually Juliet admitted that she was tired and so was going to bed.

**_I need to sleep I'm afraid. I really liked talking tonight though, perhaps we can do it again tomorrow? Shame we don't have maths...though perhaps it's for the best, with Bry on the prowl!  
See you soon. Night x_ **

Romi looked at the small kiss at the end of Juliet's message. A tiny spot of pixels, full of so much promise and hope. Though she stubbornly refused to imagine anything more than a friendship. She didn't want to jeopardise their budding friendship and Juliet clearly wasn't into girls...was she?

 

 

The day passed slowly.  


Romi daydreamed through English and Geography and French. In art, she found herself drawing an image she'd seen on Juliet's blog. Mark watched over her shoulder.  


“That's rather different to your usual drawings?” he questioned.  


“Hmmm, yeah,” Romi replied absent mindedly. “I saw it somewhere.”  


Mark shrugged.  


“Fair enough. Look, are you coming to the party tonight?”  


“Nah, I don't think so. I'm, er, busy.”  


“Busy? With who? All of our friends will be at the party?”  


“Maybe I've made some new friends? Not that you'd notice, being all loved up with Tyler,” She teased.  


Mark had the decency to look embarrassed.  


“Yeah, sorry about that. I got rather caught up. He's great.”  


“Don't worry,” she laughed. “I actually don't mind. How's it going?”  


“Um. I'm taking him to the party tonight. As a date.” He grinned. Romi laughed excitedly and jumped up to pull him into a hug.  


“That's great! I'm so pleased for you. For both of you!”  


She really was happy for him. It was about time he found someone. And Tyler would be good for him.  


She gave him a wide smile as he wandered back to his table to finish his own drawing. It really had been an interesting week, for both of them.

 

**_Are you there?_ **

When Romi logged on at just after seven, the message was waiting for her. She grinned and scrambled to reply. She was curled up in bed with a hot water bottle and a cup of tea, all set to talk late into the night. It was going to be a good evening.

**Yup. Just finished dinner. How are you?**

**_Erm, good question. I had a fight with Dad._ **

**Oh dear, what happened? *hugs***

**_It's a long story. But basically he disagrees with one of my fairly major life choices. Mum sided with him._ **

**That's really terrible. Is there anything I can do? *big big hugs***

**_Not really, just forget about it and talk to me instead. Distract me haha. Hopefully they'll come round, with time._ **

**Ok, you have my sympathy :) What do you want to talk about?**

They talked for a bit, the topic of conversation changing widely, from travel to television shows to school and friends. Romi told her about Mark and Tyler and they chatted happily about how great it was. Romi could tell that Juliet was still upset though. She wanted to do something to cheer her up. She tried sending her funny posts she found on Tumblr, but Juliet's replies seemed half hearted.  


She found some good music on Youtube, and though Juliet seemed to like it, it didn't do much to improve her mood.  


It must have been a fairly big fight to affect the usually cheerful girl this much. Romi wished she knew what it was about, so that she could help. But she didn't want to ask, as it was clear Juliet wasn't keen on telling her. She'd even tried giving Juliet her number, in case she wanted to chat in person. But Juliet had merely replied with her own number and dropped the topic.  


Eventually she decided she had to do something, and there was only one option left.

**I've just got to pop out for a second. I'll be back in a bit :)**

Closing her laptop, she shrugged on her coat and crept out of the house.

 

Juliet was really upset. She was lying curled up deep in her duvet, head resting on a slightly damp pillow. Romi had really tried to cheer her up, and she appreciated that, but it was impossible, when she didn't know what the problem was. And Juliet couldn't tell her. She didn't have the courage.  


It would be so good if she could just get away from the house for a bit. She wished she'd said yes to Romi's offer of the party now. Maybe she would still be up for it? But Romi had gone out, she'd left her. She knew she shouldn't feel disgruntled after everything Romi had done, but she couldn't help it. Romi had left her, when she needed her most.  


Something clattered against the window.  


Juliet looked up.  


It couldn't be, could it?  


Another clatter.  


Her phone buzzed.

**Hey, It's Romi. I'm outside.**

Juliet scrambled out of the duvet, almost tripping over it in her hurry to get to the window. She typed out a text as she grabbed a jumper to cover her pyjamas.

**_What are you doing?!_ **

**Trying to cheer you up. I know you said you couldn't come out tonight, but I figured that if they're already mad....how much harm could it do? ******

Juliet grinned. A very valid point. And she was feeling reckless.

**_Ok._ **

 

The single word sent a thrill through Romi. She let out a sigh of relief, replacing it with shallow breaths of anticipation. She could see Juliet's figure silhouetted against the curtains, as she threw on some clothes and got her bag together.  


Suddenly the curtain downstairs twitched. Romi ducked down behind the immaculate hedge, heart beating frantically. Peering through a gap in the hedge, she saw a man staring out of the window. A light flickered on as he searched for the source of his disturbance. Romi kept perfectly still.  


Her phone buzzed in her pocket, making her jump.

**_I'm ready. What's going on down there?_ **

**I think your father heard something. He's looking through the window.**

Just then, the light flicked off and the figure disappeared from the window.

**I think he's gone. How are you going to get down?**

Juliet didn't reply, instead Romi heard her window opening. Standing up from behind the hedge, she looked up. Her heart stopped. Juliet was climbing out of the window.  


“Be careful!” she whispered urgently. Juliet nodded to show she'd heard, but continued her manoeuvring. She managed to get a foot on the trellis below the window. Romi held her breath as inch by inch, Juliet lowered herself down from the window.  


At last, her feet touched the ground and both girls heaved a sigh of relief. Juliet turned to grin at Romi and they desperately stifled the hysterical giggles that threatened to burst forth.  


Juliet stepped forwards, over the edge of the flowerbed.  


Her leg gave way.  


She fell forward, stumbling onto the path and straight into a standing pot.  


They froze.  


The pot teetered.  


It rocked dangerously to one side...  


And fell over with a resounding crash.  


The light immediately flicked on in the house.  


Juliet ran the last few steps to the gate and wrenched it open. Romi grabbed her hand and they both ran headlong down the street, neither knowing where they were going and neither caring.  


At last they had to stop, both bent over double, trying to catch their breath. They were still holding hands.  


Looking around, Romi realised they were at the edge of a small park, miles away from where the party was supposed to be. She found she didn't care. Juliet followed her gaze, then dropped her hand and started to climb over the railings into the park.  


“What are you doing?!” Romi whispered, incredulous.  


“Fancy a stroll in the park?” Juliet whispered back, pausing on top of the railings and smiling cheekily down at Romi.  


Romi stared at her, barely believing what was happening.  


Then she grabbed onto the railings and lifted herself over.  


When they were on the other side, Juliet reached for Romi's hand again and lead her through the pushes into a grass clearing.  


“I used to come here as a child, when I got fed up of my parents. Hardly anyone knows about this clearing, so I could be alone.” She lead them over to a large oak tree with a wide trunk. The roots at the base of the tree curved out to create a natural alcove. Juliet sat down and rested her arm on one of the roots, pulling Romi down to sit beside her. The space was small, so the girls found themselves rather close.  


Juliet turned to Romi.  


“Thanks for coming to get me,” she said, smiling gratefully at her friend.  


“I wanted to,” replied Romi. “What was the matter? What did you argue about with your dad? He seems rather scary.”  


“Yeah,” agree Juliet. She paused. “I told him something he didn't like. I told him...” She seemed nervous. Romi leant back against the trunk of the tree. She realised that they were still holding hands, so she squeezed Juliet's hand reassuringly.  


“You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”  


“No. I want to. I told him...I told him I was gay.” She looked down at her feet. Romi froze.  


“What...?” she whispered.  


“No, I mean-- Yes, I did. And I am. But it doesn't--” She stopped and looked at Romi apologetically.  


“Sorry, I've never told anyone before. I'm not very good at it.”  


“It's fine. It's...good” Romi replied. She felt her heart beating in her chest. “Very good.”  


Juliet looked up. Their eyes met.  


Slowly, Romi lifted her hand to Juliet's face. When Juliet didn't object, she gently stroked her cheek.  


“I-- I'm-- I mean—” She couldn't get the words out.  


“I know” replied Juliet.  


And kissed her.  


It was a brief kiss, a mere brush of lips. But the touch sent jolts of electricity down Romi's spine.  


She leant forward to press their lips together again.  


Juliet shifted so that they were pressed together, leaning against the tree. Gently, she squeezed their hands together.  
Romi moved her hand to tangle in Juliet's hair. She deepened the kiss.  


A few minutes later, Juliet pulled back and grinned at Romi.  


“Well I think coming out went much better that time.”

They lay there together, leaning against each other and looking up at the stars through the canopy of leaves. Juliet gently stroked Romi's hand as it lay entwined with hers. Gradually the sky began to lighten and the first rays of the sun crept over the horizon. The birds began the dawn chorus and the world started to wake.  


“So then. I guess we better go back and face the world,” said Juliet quietly.  


“Yes, into battle,” agreed Romi, turning to look into her eyes. “But this time, together.”


End file.
